In India being a female
is pretty difficult. Females in Indian society have little to no value compared
to men in their culture. I used to think that nothing could be worse than this,
to essentially be viewed as nothing. I found out that I was wrong and that
there is something worse than being a female in India. You could be a widow.
The article I read detailed the struggles Indian widows face often times for
years after their husbands deaths. Sometimes after a woman’s husband dies, her
husband’s family might take her in. Perhaps her brother in-law might remarry
her. Marrying a widow is not considered to bring fortune because not too long
ago, women who’s husband’s had perished suffered the superstition of causing
their husbands deaths. Even when a woman is taken in by family members neither
she nor her children are guaranteed safe haven. Some women are subjugated to
abuse at the hands of their husband’s family and/ or are forced out of their
homes. A woman in the article who went by the name Goswami was banished from
her city by her mother, in an effort to “keep the peace”. Also some of these
exiles take place to prevent women from inheriting anything their husband might
have left for them. In a lot of cases these women have no way of providing for
themselves or their children which is one reason why they may be rejected by
their loved ones. The city the women go to is a sacred city known as Vrindavan.
A widow who moved to Vrindavan was supposed to move there to reflect on and
mourn the loss of her husband. Widows of Vrindavan were to give up luxuries and
just focus on remembering their husbands. The living conditions of Vrindavan
are less than ideal. The widows are given a government provided monthly
allotment of 6 dollars which is definitely not enough to support one person. Some
women turn to begging for money or meals by chanting for long hours. There has
been push for a change in this way of living for widows but so far not much has
been done to solve the continuing solution. One of the women believes she would
have been better off committing “sardi”, a suicide involving throwing oneself
atop a spouse’s funeral pyre, than she is living in the city for widows. I
think that it is definitely a sad state for widows in India but I’m not sure if
there could be a quick change in the way widows are treatment. A lot of the
mistreatment is deeply rooted in long held superstitions and social norms.
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